


It's Always Valentime For Some Minsung (Even If Minho Doesn't Know It Yet)

by the_word_chemist



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: BUT YEAH SUPER FLUFF, HE WAS BARELY IN SCHOOL WHEN I WAS BORN, He's so young, I WOULD'VE BEEN FOUR YEARS OLD WHEN HE GAVE HYUNJIN THE CHOCOLATES IN THIS FIC, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, MINHO'S ONLY FIVE YEARS OLDER THAN ME, THEY'RE ALL SO YOUNG, W H A T ? ? ?, a n y w a y, also yes it's valentime's zhang yixing said so and i value him over me so, and idek how to get that on my laptop and that's where i write, and minho was too old to be dating him, basically everything i write takes place in the same multiverse but different universes, but i don't want to use the hangul cause i feel like that'd be even worse, he's too baby, i tried to write it romantically but i just couldn't, i was trying to figure out the korean ages for each grade but i keep getting confused because like, i wrote this all in one day because i like killing myself, i'm bad at abiding logic so i just made up my own multiverse, i'm going to stick to my regular philosophy: this is all in the multiverse, i'm gonna be drawing hella parallels when i can, i'm not used to associating grades with ages, i'm probably only gonna write that for this fic, i'm too ambitious lmao this is literally just fanfiction, i'm using "hyung" romanized but like i don't wanna sound like a koreaboo?, it's a valentime's special shhhhhh, just imagine the honorifics if you need to but i'm not gonna use them after this, meh whatever, minho and jeongin are just platonic i promise, minho's a hoe but a soft one, okay so the grading system is weird in this, once i actually get my stories up and running and writing more than one thing ever you'll see, so like the stupid american i am, so they live in different worlds, sorry i just feel like it would be so freaking cringey, they just all live in the same planet but different planes of existence, they're cute friends though, this is so cheesy but i really like it so yeet, those are two different concepts for me, ugh i feel hecka conflicted, we're pulling out all the clichés becuase i'm an extra piece of crap, what is this, y'know what? it's my fucking multiverse i do what i want
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 21:57:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17795486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_word_chemist/pseuds/the_word_chemist
Summary: Minho reached over to squish the boy’s cheeks just as his ears cooled down and raised the pitch of his voice. “My little squirrel Jisungie is so cute and small, how could I ever not be able to talk to him?”Jisung’s eleven-year old face flared up again at the cooing, trying its hardest to not let him say something he’d regret, like “I like you a lot,” or “your face is super pretty and I’ve wanted to kiss it ever since I was nine years old, please let me.”Or something small and inconsequential like that.("In other words, I love you." - Frank Sinatra)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I think I'm going to make this a chaptered fic with Very Short Chapters, but only because I need to make one of the sections have multiple scenes and I can't break it up how I wanted to. Other than that, this should all be self explanatory!

“Hyunjin!” Minho screeched the younger’s name as he raced towards the seven year old, excited to give him the chocolates his mom let him buy. It was the first year he had a date for the fourteenth of February, and he was anticipating his boyfriend’s reaction for the longest time. The pretty third grader had so many admirers and valentines already, but he had accepted Minho’s confession earlier that year with a cute smile and a hug, so he was sure this was going to last. His neighbors had given him dating advice; Jisung’s brother was already in high school, that had to mean something!

Hyunjin turned just in time to see a sweet smile before he was attacked by a firm hug and muffled, “happy Valentine’s Day.” He hugged back and grinned, happy to see the elder. He had written the boy a card and everything, it was so cool to be the only kid in his class with a valentine. Hyunjin’s dad had spent hours the day before helping him decorate the cookies he made for Ms. B and the class, and he was going to give Minho two! That’s one extra, so he’d know he was special.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Minho-hyung,” the younger boy giggled as he shoved the little red cookie box under his nose. “I made you extra cookies and a card!” The missing tooth in his mouth was ever noticeable as he waited for Minho to open the box and ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ at the decorations. The rest of the cookies just had lots of sprinkles, but Minho’s had red hearts on them and that made them better. “Do you like them,” he asked as he worried his lip. “Dad and I worked really hard to make them!”

Minho broke out into a beautiful grin, with two missing teeth. He had pulled them out a week ago after wiggling them all December and January, and they looked absolutely adorable. “They’re great! Can I have one?” Hyunjin nodded, in awe of the pretty fifth grader.

The boy broke one in half and offered the bigger piece to the younger, already chewing on his piece. His eyes lit up and he quickly gobbled it up while Hyunjin mirrored his actions. “It’s amazing!” He grabbed the chocolates in his bag and presented them to him. “Mom let me get them,” he proudly stated, eyes shining. He watched excitedly as the boy tried one and dragged him off to the playground swings, so sure they’d last forever.


	2. Chapter 2

Seungmin fixed the flowers he’d had arranged for the eleven year old he liked so much. He checked his hair in the mirror for a third time before his mom called him down to go to school. He hasn't even eaten breakfast because he was trying to get his hair down enough for it to be acceptable. When he made his way to the bus, he nearly freaked out that he forgot the card but it was in his backpack. The poor fourth grader was so jumpy by the time he got to the school building that when his sixth grade boyfriend hugged him from behind, he nearly jumped out of his skin. “Hyung! You scared me,” the boy whined, leaning back anyway.

Minho giggled as he turned the younger around and gave him a real hug. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Minnie!” Seungmin calmed down in his arms, hugging him back and smiling.

“You too,” he got out through the other’s shoulder. Seriously, it sucked being shorter than everyone. Hopefully that would change soon. He let go after a couple seconds to give his boyfriend the flowers the flowers he had so meticulously picked out from his local flower shop. “Are they okay? I didn’t know what kind you liked best, so I just got some of every kind!” Seungmin fished his card out from his backpack, a message written in as neat Hangul as a nine year old could after having learned in English for three months. He was still getting used to Korean again, but it was definitely easier than English. Who has time to learn all the different ways to spell the same sound? Ridiculous.

Minho’s smile brought him back to Earth. “They’re lovely, Minnie! I love them,” he assured, ruffling his hair and making the kid giggle as he gave him the card. “Let me get my present out?”

They headed to the stone wall by the playground as Minho found the box he had wrapped and put a bow on. Eagerly, he handed it to Seungmin and watched his reaction, satisfied when his eyes lit up at the little stuffed bear. “It’s so cute,” he squealed, garnering the attention from Jisung when he looked interested in what his classmate’s reaction was. He’d been the first to give his opinion on which animal Minho should get (he’d been the one to gently steer him away from the crocodile; “it might scare him, hyung!”) and helped him out with cutting the paper for the card. He was happy it turned out well, even though he felt a twinge in his heart when he heard Minho ramble about how the younger was like a puppy.

Anyway, this wasn't his time yet. His brother told him he just needed to wait, and he seemed serious when he told him not to ask Minho out yet, so he listened. It was all he could do at this point. He watched as Minho hugged Seungmin once more before the bell rang and then ran off to class, waving at Jisung. He waved back, knowing they’d walk home together like always.


	3. Chapter 3

A twelve year old Minho worried his lip as he played with the little curl of hair that rested on his forehead. He’d recently gotten to dye it with some light brown highlights and he played around with the strands as he waited on the sidewalk for a certain third grader that he’d practically adopted. He and Jisung liked to joke that Jeongin was their son, since they’d known him since he was two. Jisung was only a few months older but he acted so much older than the boy, and Minho always babied them both. This year he decided to get the boy little watermelon candies that he used give him when he was sad (and five). He made him a card too, just like he did for both him and Jisung and Seungmin and Hyunjin every year, but this time he was going to spend the day with him. There was something about him that just made it impossible to not love him, and Minho decided today was a good day to show that love. 

Speak of the angel, the newly nine years old boy rode his bike by Minho’s house and jumped off it, dropping it on the grass and running to his best friend. “Hyung! Happy Valentime’s Day,” Jeongin cried in joy as he attacked the elder with a flying jump, latching onto him. Minho staggered back but caught himself and couldn’t help but laugh at the younger’s antics.

“It’s Valen- _ tine _ , Innie,” he explained, adjusting the boy so he could hold him easier. “You too,” he added quickly, popping a candy in his kid’s mouth. He was too cute, it was too much for Minho’s poor heart.

Jisung also ran up to them, panting from the “distance” he sprinted as a next-door neighbor. “Happy Valentine’s, Innie, Minho-hyung!” He brightened as he saw the sight of their youngest friend cuddled up against his  ~~ crush ~~ best friend, cooing as he ruffled his hair and pinched his cheek. “What’d I miss?”

Minho used his free arm to hug Jisung, with a quick “not much,” in response. He gave the blonde boy his card and handed his pseudo-koala a bag of the candies he was currently chewing on. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Sungie!”

Jeongin hopped down from Minho’s arm to read the card he’d received and the trio opted to sit on the grass. The eldest dragged Jisung into his grasp, hugging him from behind as the other two read his letters, wanting to see their reactions up close. Those were always the best part.

“Aw, I love you too hyung!” Jisung turned around in his arms and hugged him hard enough to topple them both over, Jeongin soon falling on both of them and joining the pile. Minho groaned under the weight but loved it anyway. 

“You’re lucky I love you kids, or you’d be so dead by now.” He was only acknowledged by giggles, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.


	4. Chapter 4

Ah, eighth grade. Finally, Minho was in the peak of his middle school career. He had the respect of all the underclassmen, and his class knew to not mess with him unless they wanted to be screwed over in an alleyway.

So of course he had to go and fall for a high schooler and stop being the older one.

He didn’t necessarily hate being younger than his friends. He’d had a few friends in the grades above him the past few years, which gave him his reputation of an influential kid in the impressionable world of thirteen year olds, but he was mostly friends with younger kids. He was the protector of a few young ones, mostly those he’s kid-dated before, and made sure no one bullied them. In return, the sixth and seventh graders flocked to him like cattle to a safe patch of grass. He would never turn any of them away, but he had a very good radar for the bad kids. He never kept in touch with those jerks.

But of course, he had to go and develop feelings for someone older than him, and he was completely in the dark when it came to flirting with older kids. Should he act cute? Should he stay his confident self? Would he be considered a brat if he went and pretended he was on par with the older?

Screw it, Minho was going full confident gay on Chris. He had to do something, and that was the only thing he knew how to do.

“Jisungie,” the eighth grader whined, falling onto his friend’s bed after a long Wednesday of school. “Help me, I have absolutely no way of talking to one of the cutest people alive!”

Jisung grinned and set his backpack down. “But hyung, you’re talking to me just fine,” he teased, ears going red when he realized what he actually just said.

Minho didn’t seem to notice as he flung his arms over his eyes and groaned. “Yeah, but you’re the kind of non-threatening cute. You couldn’t intimidate me if you tried!” He reached over to squish the boy’s cheeks just as his ears cooled down and raised the pitch of his voice. “My little squirrel Jisungie is so cute and small, how could I ever not be able to talk to him?”

Jisung’s eleven-year old face flared up again at the cooing, trying its hardest to not let him say something he’d regret, like “I like you a lot,” or “your face is super pretty and I’ve wanted to kiss it ever since I was nine years old, please let me.”

Or something small and inconsequential like that.

He chose instead to push the boy’s hands away and feign annoyance, although his cheeks told a different story. “I’m only two years younger than you, stop acting like a mom!”

Minho just giggled at his face, not realizing what it meant. “But seriously,” he sighed once he sobered up, “I need pointers on how to talk to Chris. I mean, I can’t just go up to him and ask if he wants to-”

“Wait.” Jisung stopped him in his tracks, a look of horror making its way across his pink face. “Tell me you’re not crushing on Christopher Bang, freshman drum major.”

“...Maybe, maybe not. Depends on what you know,” Minho questioned suspiciously. He poked Jisung’s sides. “Whaddya know about the kid, Sungie?”

Jisung sat sullenly for a few seconds, trying to push back the envy in his heart, before he perked up. “Haven’t I ever told you about Chris? He’s Lix’s friend from Sydney, he only got to move here because Chris’ family said he could stay with them until college. The Bangs are family friends,” he explained when Minho gave him a questioning glance, “that’s how I know. But yeah, he’s pretty chill. We hang out sometimes, write music together with another kid in seventh grade.”

“Do you know if he likes guys?” Minho’s eyes were shining at this point, and Jisung felt his heart break since he knew the answer.

“Yeah, he’s pan.” If his voice cracked during that sentence, he could always blame it on puberty (he was probably still growing), but it hurt even more when his best friend didn’t seem to notice.

-

“Just admit you like him already!” Hyunjin tossed another pink M&M in Jisung’s hair while he gazed at Minho sitting with Chris, laughing at some joke he made. He had already given the high schooler a card and made him blush about ten times, so he seemed to be taking pity on him. Shaking his hair quickly, he turned back to the group he had at his own café table. Three boys stared intently at him as he just hummed in response, asking for a repeat of the question as he stole a candy. Hyunjin sighed and just looked pleadingly at Seungmin, who took a deep breath and gathered his senses.

“Jisung, you’ve been staring at Chris and Minho for the past twenty minutes. Either you’re really excited to go to high school, or something’s up, and I’m willing to bet it’s not the sexual tension radiating through hundreds of hormonal teens everyday that’s got you invested.” Seungmin took a sip of his green tea as he stared him down. God, how much did one have to hang around Felix to start picking up on these terrible memes?

“Guys, I promise, there’s nothing going on. I’m just,” Jisung thought for a moment. What _was_ going on with him? “...I’m just used to spending more time with Minho, that’s all. We should’ve gone to a different café, I need to hang out with you guys more on my own!” He wrapped an arm around Jeongin’s shoulders and let him struggle, other arm grabbing Hyunjin. He did mean it, he never got to spend enough time with these friends. Sure he hung out with Jeongin, but he was also his neighbor. He needed to start getting close to more people than just his ~~crush~~ best friend; Minho would be leaving the school soon anyway in half a year, so he’d need to learn to defend himself from social disparity.

Jeongin finally stopped struggling when he saw the look of disappointment hit Jisung. He had no idea what he was thinking, but he didn’t like it. “Hey, hyung, cheer up! We’re hanging out right now, let’s enjoy it!” He poked the elder’s cheeks and grinned as wide as he could. He knew from experience that the blonde boy could never resist smiling at his face; he assumed correctly, and Jisung’s face broke into a mirrored smile.

He released his friends and stood up. “Okay then, let’s go somewhere I won’t get distracted then. I think the park’s usually empty on Sundays. Wanna go hang by the swings?"

Jeongin and Hyunjin seemed relieved that Jisung had regained some energy. Seungmin made a decisive decision to steer the group away from the café before they could question the choice. "That sounds great, Jisung."

They didn't look back to see Chris and Minho's concerned glances.


	5. Chapter 5

Kim Woojin was the shortest relationship Minho had actually been in, even though they were in the same school for once. They never kissed, the sophomore not as quick to get close to the boy in a romantic way that Chris had been. Woojin realized he felt borderline paternal feelings towards Minho like he did most of their friend group. The freshman understood, also not feeling much romantic attraction. He still brought snacks and a movie to the elder’s house on Valentine’s Day just for kicks, and they cuddled for hours as friends. They still only were together for a week, a few days before Valentine’s Day and a few days after, and they spent Saturday apart. They weren’t all too torn up about it, but they did have an unspoken agreement to at least act a bit sad to keep up pretences. Woojin went to Chris’ house and Minho to Jisung’s, hoping to talk to him. They hadn't spent quality time together since early January, thanks to midterms for the middle schooler and regular academic struggles for Minho, but that was going to change as the year progressed. He was looking forward to spending time with his best friend again.

Jisung was wearing a mint sweater that Minho got him for Christmas when he opened the door to the boy holding some movies and microwavable popcorn packets. “Is this a second Valentine’s Day?” Jisung joked as he let his friend in and took his jacket (that he fully intended to use as a blanket), “I think you’re a bit late.” There was a trace of salt in Jisung’s voice, but nowhere near enough for the elder to notice. _Salt Bae at his finest,_ Jisung mused before dragging his best friend through his house like usual.

“I broke up with Woojin-hyung,” Minho blurted out, bringing the pair to a full stop as a single tear trickled down his face. He didn’t even know why he was crying, but it just felt so hopeless. Maybe he’d never have a relationship longer than a few weeks. He was only ever not single for Valentine’s Day, never longer.

Jisung was a little shocked, but he couldn’t even be a little victorious at this point. His crush was crying and he couldn’t bear to see him sad. He led the lamenting boy to the sofa in his room. “Hyung, what happened? Did he say something?”

“No, he just,” Minho hiccupped, trying to pull himself back together. “He didn’t do anything wrong, he just only felt platonic feelings for me. I do too, I just don’t know why I’m so torn up about this.” The fourteen year old was so annoyed with himself, balling his fists up in rage at his own emotions.

“Hyung…-”

“Is there a reason no one who wants to date me for longer than a few weeks?” Okay, maybe he did know why he was crying, and maybe it wasn’t just a single tear. “It’s not even like it was a messy breakup, was that the problem? It’s always expected that I won’t have a lasting relationship.” Minho sniffled as Jisung rubbed his back, grounding him on the couch.

“No, hyung, it’s not your fault,” Jisung assured him soothingly, ignoring the twinge of guilt he felt at his own heartbreak. He shouldn’t be feeling sad, Minho’s the only person who deserves to express his emotions at this point. “You just haven’t dated the right person.” Jisung opened his mouth tentatively, choosing his next words carefully. “It’s also okay to not find anyone, hyung. Not everyone experiences romantic attraction,” he adds hastily, to explain the sentence. “You’re not broken or incomplete just because you’re not dating anyone. I take it you do want to date, but if you ever think you realize ‘oh wow, I don’t like people the way everyone says we have to,’ then it’s fine. That’s fine, and never think any less of yourself because of it.” A silence befell the pair for what felt like hours to Jisung; it was likely only a few minutes. “Sorry about my rambling! I’ve just been researching a lot and I didn’t know if you even knew that it was okay to not like people romantically.” The boy was afraid he might’ve gotten too deep into the topic, about to backtrack when he found himself quickly pinned down by a hug attack.

Minho had stopped crying at that point, but the hug had broken the younger’s dam of tears and they flowed freely down his cheeks. He hadn't realized how long it’d been since they said anything substantial to each other. They usually figured things like this out together, navigated the world together. In the months they’d been too busy for each other, it was different and Jisung wasn’t sure he liked that. He missed having a guiding hand, or maybe he just missed knowing that one was there.

“Thank you, Jisung. Never stop being the wonderful, marvellous you, okay?” And there Minho was again, reaching out to him and holding him close so he felt safe. It had only been a month but Jisung hated that they hadn't spent time together like this in that time. He sniffled and nodded, wiping away the last of his tears with a small grin.

“Don’t worry, I’ll always be here to annoy the living hell out of you!” And with that the earlier playful mood returned as Jisung threw a pillow at his ~~crush~~  friend and ran away giggling.

“You little punk! Get the fuck back here and face me, bitch!”

Jisung could face his feelings another day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bitch is back! I'm gonna try and get this all out here by Sunday lol, this wasn't meant to be too long. Also! Asexuality and aromanticality are things! I tried to put that in there because holy heck I project onto Jisung way too much in this but just to clarify: Jisung isn't aromantic in this. I wanted to make this longer and show "yeah, they missed each other" but I legit just don't have the time to put all the stuff I want to in this. Maybe I'll expand on this next Valentine's Day...


End file.
